Sunday, March 31, 2013

በአማራ ህዝብ ላይ እየተፈጸመ ያለው ግፍ በኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ላይ እየተፈጸመ ያለው ግፍ አካል ነዉ! (ግንቦት 7)

መግለጫ
ግንቦት 7 የፍትህ የነጻነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ
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Ginbot 7 press release in Amharicየወያኔ መሪዎች እነ መለስ ዜናዊና ስብሐት ነጋ በ1967 ዓም ለትግል ደደቢት በረሀ እንዲገቡ ያነሳሳቸዉና ያሰባሰባቸዉ በአማራዉ ህዝብ ላይ ያላቸው ጥላቻና የበቀል ስሜት እንጂ የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ በደልና እሮሮ አንገፍግፏቸዉ እንዳልሆነ በተለያዩ ግዜዎች ለህዝብ ይፋ የሆኑት የወያኔ መግለጫዎችና ለረጂም ግዜ ወያኔን የመሩት መለስ ዜናዊና ስብሐት ነጋ በየአደባባዩ ላይ ያደረጓቸዉ ንግግሮች በግልጽ ያሳያሉ። እነዚህ ከወጣትነት ግዜያቸዉ ጀምሮ በአማራ ህዝብ ላይ ጥርሳቸዉን የነከሱ የወያኔ መስራቾች በለስ ቀንቷቸዉ አዲስ አበባን ከተቆጣጠሩ በኋላም ቢሆን ለአማራ ህዝብ፤ ባህልና ታሪክ ያለቻዉ ጥላቻ ከተራ ጥላቻ አልፎ በተግባር አማራዉን ወደ ማጥቃት ዘመቻ አደገ እንጂ ለአንድም ቀን ቀንሶ አያውቅም።
የወያኔ አገዛዝ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ያከበረዉ ወይም የኤኮኖሚና የፖለቲካ ጥቅሙን ያስጠበቀለት ብሔረሰብ ባይኖርም በግለሰብ ደረጃም ሆነ በቡድን የወያኔ ዘረኞች የአማራን ህዝብ ከተቀሩት ኢትዮጵያዉያን ወንድሞቹና እህቶቹ ነጥለዉ ለማጥቃትና የስነ ልቦና ዘይቤውን ለመስበር ከፍተኛ ጥረት አድርገዋል። በአጠቃላይ የወያኔ ዘረኛ ባለስልጣኖች አማራውን በተከታታይ ሲዘልፉ ቆይተዋል፤አዋርደው አስረዋል፤ ከአገር እንዲሰደድ አድረገዋል፤ አፈናቅለዋል ገድለዋል። ለምሳሌ ወያኔ ስልጣን በያዘባቸዉ በመጀመሪያዎቹ አምስት አመታት ዉስጥ ብቻ አሶሳ፤ በደኖና አርባጉጉ ውስጥ አማራ በመሆናቸዉ ብቻ ህጻናት፤ሴቶችና አረጋዉያን በግፍ ተገድለዋል።
ባለፈዉ አመት በደቡብ ክልል ጉራ ፈርዳ እየተባለ በሚጠራዉ አካባቢ ለረጂም አመታት ከአካባቢዉ ኢትዮጵያዊ ወገናቸው ጋር ተግባብተዉ ይኖሩ የነበሩ የአማራ ተወላጆች አማራ በመሆናቸዉ ብቻ ለአመታት ያፈሩትን ንብረት ይዞ የመሄጃ ግዜ እንኳን ሳይሰጣቸዉ አከባቢዉን ያለ ምንም ቅድመ ሁኔታ ለቅቀዉ እንዲወጡና እንዲፈናቀሉ ተደርጓል። የወያኔ ባለስልጣኖችና በየአካባቢዉ የኮለኮሏቸዉ ምስለኔዎች አካባቢዉን በግድ እንዲለቅ የተደረገ ህግ አክባሪ ዜጋ የለም፤ የተባረሩት ህግ የጣሱ ግለሰቦች ብቻ ናቸው፣ በማለት አሳፋሪ ድርጊታቸዉን ለመደበቅ ሲሞክሩ ታይተዋል። ሆኖም ከጉራ ፈርዳና ከአካባቢዉ ተፈናቅለዉ ወደ መጣችሁበት አካባቢ ተመለሱ ተብለው በየሜዳው ያለምግብ፣ ውኃና፤መጠለያ የተበተኑ በብዙ ሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ የአማራ ተወላጆች ለወገኖቻቸውና ለአለም አቀፉ ህብረተሰብ የድረሱልን ጩኸት ሲያሰሙ መሰንበታቸዉ የቅርብ ግዜ ትዝታ ነዉ።
ወያኔ በዚህ በያዝነዉ አመት ከመጋቢት ወር መጀመሪያ ጀምሮ በአማራዉ ህዝብ ላይ አዲስና ሰፋ ያለ የጥቃት ዘመቻ ጀምሯል። በደቡቡ የአገራችን ክልል በጉራፈርዳ የጀመረዉን አማራውን ነጥሎ የማጥቃትና የማንገላታት ዘመቻ አሁን ደግሞ በሰሜን ምስራቅ የአገራችን ክፍል በቤንሻንጉል ጉሙዝ ክልል ቀጥሏል። ሰሞኑን በቤንሻንጉል ጉሙዝ ለረጂም አመታት ከአካባቢዉ ህብረተሰብ ጋር ተቀላቅለው ይኖሩ የነበሩ አያሌ የአማራ ተወላጆች ያፈሩትን ንብረት ለመሰብሰብ እንኳን ግዜ ሳይሰጣቸዉ የኔ ብለው ከሚጠሩት የመኖሪያ ቦታቸዉ እንደባዳ እየተገፉ እንዲወጡ ተደርገዋል። እዚህ ላይ አንድ እጅግ የሚያሳዝን ነገር ቢኖር በገዢዉ ፓርቲ ኢህአዴግ ዉስጥ አማራን እወክላለሁ ባዩ ብአዴን ወያኔ በአማራዉ ህዝብ ላይ የሚያደርሰውን በደል ዝም ብሎ መመልከቱ ብቻ ሳይሆን ባለፈው አመት ከጉራ ፈርዳ ዘንድሮ ደግሞ ከቤንሻንጉል ጉሙዝ እየተባረሩ እየወጡ ባሉ አማራዎች ላይ እየተፈጸመ ባለው ወንጀል ላይ ተባባሪ መሆኑን አሳይቷል።
ግንቦት ሰባት የፍትህ የነጻነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ ወያኔ በአማራዉ ህዝብ ላይ ያደረሰውንና በማድረስ ላይ ያለውን ይህ ነዉ የማይባል ግፍና መከራ ከዚህ ቀደም እንዳደረገዉ ሁሉ አሁንም አጥብቆ ያወግዛል። ከዚህ በተጨማሪ ወያኔ በዚህ በኢትዮጵያ አንድነትና ነጻነት የትግል ምእራፍ ውስጥ በደም የተቀባ፣ የቀለመ አኩሪ ታሪክ ያለውን የአማራውን ህዝብ መልሶ መላልሶ የሚያጠቃውና ይህንን ታላቅ ህዝብ ከየቦታዉ የሚያፈናቅለው ኢትዮጵያና ኢትዮጵያዊነትን ከአማራዉ ህዝብ ጋር ብቻ በማያያዝ አገራችንን ለማዳከምና አንዱ ኢትዮጵያዊ በሌላዉ ኢትዮጵያዊ ላይ የሚደርሰዉን ግፍና መከራ “ምን አገባኝ” ብሎ እንዲመለከት ለማድረግ ባለው እጅግ አደገኛ ዕቅድ መሠረት መሆኑን የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ እንዲገነዘብ በጥብቅ ያሳስባል።
ከዚህም በተጨማሪ በአማራው ህዝብ ላይ እየተፈጸመ ባለው እጅግ አስከፊ ወንጀል በግልም ሆነ በቡድን፣ የንጹሀንን ደም እያፈሰሳችሁ ያላችሁ ወንጀለኞችና ተባባሪዎች፣ ከያላችሁበት ታድናችሁ ለፍርድ እንድትቀርቡ ንቅናቂያችን የሚቻለውን ሁሉ ለማድረግ ያለውን ቁርጠኝነት በግልጽ እንድታውቁት ይገባል።
በአማራው የደረሰው ጥቃት የሁሉም ኢትዮጵያውያን ዜጎች ጥቃት ነው እንላለን። ግንቦት ሰባት ይህንን አጋጣሚ በመጠቀም በግለሰብ ደረጃ የምንደሰትበትን ነጻነት የምናስጠብቀው በህብረት ነውና ወያኔ በአሁኑ ግዜ በአማራው ወገናችን ላይ የሚያደርሰውን ግፍ፤ መከራና መፈናቀል በእያንዳንዳችን ላይ እንደደረሰ በመቁጠር ይህንን ግፍ በመፈጸም የማይሰለቸውን ዘረኛ አገዛዝ በተባበረ ህዝባዊ ትግል ከአገራችን ለማስወገድ ለሁሉም ኢትዮጵያዊ የጋራ ትግል ጥሪ ያስተላልፋል።
ግንቦት 7 የፍትህ የነጻነትና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ
መጋቢት 2005 ዓ. ም

EPRDF’s ethnic policy imperils the goal of AU

by Robele Ababya, 31 March 2013
Unity of Ethiopia is paramount
ethiopian national flag, Unity of Ethiopia is paramountThe EPRDF regime is killing, arbitrarily arresting and encouraging ethnic cleansing; therefore an all-inclusive struggle in self-defense is morally and legally justified. The Amharas and Oromos are the main victims of such heinous crimes and must rely on their combined overwhelming majority and join other progressive democratic forces in order to dislodge the TPLF minority warlords from power and save Ethiopia from disintegration. In this regard, the call for justice, freedom and democracy is irresistible!
I would like to elaborate my point starting with the following Abraham Lincoln’s quote in August 22, 1862. I do so in order to stress the supreme importance of Ethiopian unity and territorial integrity under the umbrella of the African as the theme of this piece.
Quote My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause Unquote.
It is my understanding that the Great Statesman Abraham Lincoln gave top priority to saving the Union from the southern slave owner separatist States because their success in the American Civil War would have been worse for the slaves. The defeat of the separatists heralded the illegality of slavery although it took a long time and hard struggle for African Americans to earn their right to vote. There is still racial discrimination in the USA but a lot of progress has been made in securing their rights.
In view of the above I strongly believe that the unity of Ethiopia is paramount and must be secured at all costs so that all grievances including violation of human rights can be resolved.
The 9th EPRDF Congress
The gathering at Bar Dar was dull and pathetic in that no substantive change was made to the reckless policy of the late Tyrant Meles Zenawi. His design of replacing top cadres by lower cadres did not materialize. The Prime Minister made the ludicrous blame on the opposition forces for not making an iota of contribution to the developmental state. Is he right in making this shameful remark given that his party holds 99.6% of parliamentary seats by dint of stolen votes and heavily rigged election process by the ruling corrupt thugs?
One surprising drama was Azeb Mesfin’s non-procedural intervention to disclose how poor her late husband was supporting his family at a monthly salary of US$ 250 – according to her the only lowest paid leader on payroll in the world, which fact the US government knows it too. I mention this to highlight the kind of ignorant gang of thugs that have been ruling Ethiopia since 1991 with generous support of the Western donors. The mother of corruption Azeb has underestimated the intelligence of the international community and displayed her arrogant contempt to the Ethiopian people. She took the floor to speak on a matter outside the agenda in her desperate attempt to forestall accountability for her huge wealth, luxurious life-style and spending spree. She now stands as a credible witness of her own corrupt practices and abuse of power. Some say she must be mentally deranged to make such a self-damaging statement at the fake Congress of the illegitimate regime. The popular idiom “??????? ????? ???? ??? ??? ??? ???? ????” (One that stole from offerings to Saint George lives talking about it unprovoked until death) that I heard on ESAT Radio is an apt description of Azeb’s worried state of mind scared of accountability for plundering state property. She stands tall among the illiterate thugs that have been ruling Ethiopia for more than 21 years.
Zenawi’s destructive policy
In general, the policy of the late tyrant Zenawi was disastrous and his betrayal of vital national interests qualifies him as a traitor unprecedented in the history of Ethiopia. His divisive ethnic policy inherited by the EPRDF will spread like bush fire across the African continent making it a fertile ground for neocolonialists, including communist China, to be locked in competition for its abundant resources to the detriment of its population. Ethnic cleansing has been going on for the last 21 years; the regime is hell-bent on pitting Muslims against Christians. The ethnic-based federal system of

Ethiopia imports $1 billion in fuel from Sudan via Djibouti

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
March 30, 2013 (ADDIS ABABA) - The Ethiopian Petroleum Supplier Enterprise (EPSE) said on Saturday that the nation has imported over 1 million metric tonnes of petroleum from neighbouring Sudan via the port of Djibouti.
Officials said the stated fuel amount was imported at a cost $1.12 billion over the past six months.
A similar amount of petroleum is expected to be imported over the next six months to meet the growing demand for energy in one of Africa’s emerging and fastest growing economies.
The fuel imported during first half of the Ethiopian fiscal year was a rise of 21% in comparison to the same period last year.
According to EPSE’s spokesperson, Alemayehu Tsegaye, the imported 1,091,823 metric tonnes of fuel surpasses the initial planned target of 1,093, 073 metric tonnes.
Ethiopia imports up to 85% of its annual oil consumption from neighbouring Sudan, largely due to its geographic proximity.
The Horn of Africa nation saves at least $10 million in transit related costs per year by using Sudanese oil sources rather than importing from markets further afield, such as the Middle East.
During the stated period of the budget year, Ethiopia has also imported over 125,000 metric tonnes of coal and spent over $20 million on maintaining sustainable energy supplies for manufacturing and industry.
Over 50% of Ethiopia’s imports are to meet the nation’s fuel demand.
As Ethiopia and Sudan link their power grids, the two East African countries are planning to offset the revenues earned from Ethiopia’s sale of hydropower processed electricity to Sudan with the equivalent expenditure on Sudanese fuel.
Under Ethiopia’s five-year Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) launched two-and-a-half years ago, the government is spending billions of US dollars on the construction of several power plants, including the Ethiopian Great Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile River, which will be Africa’s largest once complete.
Ethiopia’s electricity generation capacity is set to increase to 10,000 MW by 2015 up from the current level of about 3,000 MW once the power projects are complete, making the country a regional power hub.
Ethiopia hopes that power exports can provide a crucial bridge to its plans to develop the country’s economy.
(ST)

Prisoners of conscience in Ethiopia: By Birtukan Mideksa

Al Jazeera
Birtukan Mideksa is a fellow at Harvard University’s WEB Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research and a former prisoner of conscience in Ethiopia.
Birtukan Mideksa a prisoner of conscience now a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow
Birtukan Mideksa
Although Ethiopia has its first new prime minister in 17 years – so far, the government has failed to right a long history of wrongs. With prisoners of conscience still languishing in its prisons, Ethiopia must receive the clear message – especially from allies like the United States – that continued human rights violations will not be tolerated.
My journey to become a political prisoner in Ethiopia began as a federal judge fighting to uphold the rule of law. Despite institutional challenges and even death threats, I hoped to use constitutional principles to ensure respect for basic rights.
But, having witnessed firsthand the government disregard for fundamental constitutional rules, I joined the opposition and became the first woman to hold a high-level position in an Ethiopian political party.
Our party – the Coalition for Unity and Democracy – contested the 2005 elections with a multiethnic platform based on economic liberalism and respect for individual rights. As momentum gathered, many hoped change had finally arrived in Ethiopia.
Eskinder Nega, an Ethiopian journalist who has been imprisoned on anti-terrorism charges for his criticism of the government following the Arab uprisings.
Eskinder Nega and his wife – Serkalem Fasil and their son Nafkot.
But after early reports showed our party ahead in the polls, the government dashed our optimism by throwing me and my colleagues behind bars and declaring a victory for the ruling party.
When I emerged after 21 months in prison, our party was outlawed and the political landscape had grown increasingly repressive. But we forged ahead, forming the new Unity for Democracy and Justice Party and continuing to advocate for dialogue and non-violent political reform in Ethiopia.
Authorities arrested me again in 2008, claiming that I had mischaracterised the circumstances of my release. But peaceful political activities are not the only way to become a prisoner of conscience in Ethiopia.
Independent journalists face the very real threat of imprisonment in response to their work. Authorities have detained my friend Eskinder Nega eight times over his 20-year career as a journalist and publisher.
After the 2005 elections, Eskinder and his wife – Serkalem Fasil – spent 17 months in prison. Pregnant at the time, Serkalem gave birth to a son despite her confinement and almost no pre-natal care.
Banned from publishing after his release in 2007, Eskinder continued to write online. In early 2011, he began focusing particularly on the protest movements then sweeping North Africa and the Middle East.
Eskinder, who does not belong to any political party because of a commitment to maintain his independence, offered a unique and incisive take on what those movements meant for the future of Ethiopia.
Committed to the principle of non-violence, Eskinder repeatedly emphasised that any similar